Susie, speaking from experience, when you are as close to your goal as we are.....it is not as easy as it is for those who are like 15 lbs or so from goal. i think there is a bit of a see saw motion back and forth. If you really want those last 7 pounds, you may need to just do another round. That is exactly the position I am in. It has taken me this long to decide to do it (since Aug 1), but I know I want to do it now. Give your body time. As everyone says, the last pounds are the hardest.....just as they are on every other diet. It's easy to get your BMI down to 24 or 25 on this protocol....its alot harder to get it below that. You are going to stabilize at what your body decides is appropriate for now...not what you decide is appropriate. It's not fair, i know, but it is the way it is...:)). A short round is 23 days of injections...a bunch of us are going to do it in January together...want to join in??

Barb

Yes, about 7, give or take. I am going to do a 4 week round in January, and as Nike says "just do it". I am pretty good now, but just want to get those last pesky few pounds off. Then I want to really start exercising alot again...which will put some muscle weight back on me, I know. Exercise has not historically helped me to lose weight, so I want to lose the weight with HCG, then work harder on muscles again. I am going to get one of those muscle measure thingys, but I think my mass is pretty good now. I have good definition in my arms and legs.

Yes it's forever. A neat trick to jerk the body into submission. LOL
Colleen

I've found that the hardest thing BY FAR is P4. I had a little freakout in P3 the first week when I was see-sawing. But in the end, I ended up being able to maintain 4 lbs below LIW. However, now that I'm in P4 it's not working quite that way. I've added another pound, and am to the point where I've been fairly stable for the last 3-4 days with one starch per day and higher sugar fruits - my carb and protein grams are about even right now usually with a few more carb grams than protein. I'm having to come to terms with the fact that where I stabilized in P3 is not necessarily going to work for me in P4, and frankly, for the rest of my life. I don't really like it - but it's better than being where I was when I started the protocol. I'm also back to my regular workouts - even upping the weights now - and seeing results. The arms are more defined, the legs are firmer, and oh, the abs are starting to peek out!

I'm wondering if some of us (myself included) get so hung up on the number that we see pop up on the scale every morning that we quit looking at the big picture. We are healthier and more fit than when we started the protocol, and some of us are really close to the goal weight we set for ourselves. If our bodies want to stay at a certain weight to operate at an optimal level, are we doing ourselves a big disservice by obsessing over 5 lbs? Don't get me wrong here - I am a master obsessor! I see a gain and BOY do I get CRANKY! LOL. It's great that we have tools like steak days to keep things from getting out of hand, but I'm wondering if sometimes we pick a number and get wrapped around the axle trying to get and stay there, when in all reality, 5 pounds or so higher is a much more realistic number to maintain. Just thinking out loud over here....

Your so right Katomma p4 is the hardest...but its a head game and numbers seem so important!! I got down to 133, my LIW was 135. something and I so bad want to be at the lower end of 130 not the upper but if I could just convince myself its only a couple of pounds and it doesn't matter but thats easier said then done. I guess I'm afraid the scale will keep climbing and I will have done this all for nothing...so paranoid about that and like you said when the scale goes up a few very suddenly I just have a terrible day. you are right its an obsession but we need to weigh often to keep that weight in check, I know from experience because I lost 25 on my own then another 25 at WW 10 yrs ago and when I stopped weighing everyday was when trouble started cause I knew I gained but was afraid to get on the scale so finally when I started hcg had to weigh and had gained the 25 back!!! I was upset but knew I would have to face it sooner or later and glad I did now and got 15 off but I'm ok at this weight if I could just keep it here and eat a few starches a day, I'm in week 5 of p4 and can only eat one starch a day or I gain and I was hoping to be able to have more but I'll learn it will just take time I know as Barb says PATIENCE...so hoping to get my body figured out without gaining more than 2-3lbs. and stabilize at that.
Susie